Car-door.



No. 651,234; Patented June 5, I900. S. D. CHELF.

CAR, DOOR. (Appliciation died July 20, 1899.

(No Model.)

m WM 5 W 2 awwu WWW UNITED STAT S PATENT QFFICE.

SIMEON D. CHELF, OF LEBANON, KANSAS.

CAR-DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651,234, dated runs 5, 1906. Application filed July 20, 1899. Serial No. 724,488. (No model-l T0 ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMEON D. OHELF, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lebanon, in the county of Smith and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Doors; and I do hereby destruct a door adapted for use in connection with box-cars in which only the lower portion of the door may be opened in order to control the exit of the material therefrom, and when a sufficient quantity of the material has been unloaded to permit the door to be entirely opened to provide means for elevating and suspending the door from the rafters or roof of the car.

Briefly described, myinvention consists of a door made in two pieces of unequal size and hinged together, the lower or smaller piece or section being adapted to swing outwardly of the car and the upper or larger piece or section being connected to guiderods arranged inside the car, said upper or larger section or piece being adapted to swing inwardly of the car and when elevated to be suspended from its guide-rods and from a hanger secured to the rafters of the car orat any suitable point.

The invention further consists in the various details of construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described and then particularly pointed out in the appended claim, and in describing the invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein like numerals. of reference will be employed to designate similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the inside of a box-car, showing my improved door in the suspended position. 2 is an outside elevation of a portion of the car,- showing the door in the closed position. Fig; 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view of a part of the car, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the car looking at the inside thereof, showing the door in the closed position.

Referring now to the drawings by reference-numerals, 1 designates the upper or larger section of the door, which is slightly longer than the width of the doorway 2 in order that it mayengage and rest against the inner faces of the door-jambs 3. This upper or larger section 1 has secured to its outer face two vertical strips 4 4, extending the entire width of the section and being of equal width with a pair of extension-blocks 5 5, secured to the outer face of the smaller or lower section 6 of the door and extending beyond the ends of said lower section. This lower or smaller section is secured to the upper or larger section by hinges 7, attached to the outer faces of the strips 4 4 and the extension-blocks 5 5. tion 6 of the door is of less length than the upper or larger section 1, being adapted to fit neatly within the jambs 3, while the ends of the extension-blocks 5 5 are flush with the ends ot the upper section 1, and the inner faces of these extension-blocks are adapted to abut against a pair of stop-blocks 8 S, which may be attached to the inner face of the car wall or the jambs 3, or these blocks may be cast integral with a metal door-strip 9, which is secured to the floor and to the jambs'3. When the door is closed, its lower edge'rests upon the top of these stop-blocks, and for effectually closing the joint between Fig.

The lower or smaller sec-.

the upper and lower sections of the door I preferably secure to the inner face of the upper section 1, near its lower edge, a strip 10, which extends down over the joint between the two sections.

For holding the lower section 6 closed when the door is down I attach to the outer face of this section a pair of keepers 11, in which are arranged locking-bolts 12, adapted to engage into apertures provided therefor in the jambs 3. To hold these lockingrbolts 12 in either the looking or unlocked position, I provide the same with a lug let, adapted to slide between lugs 15, formed on the keepers 11, and for convenience in operating the bolts 12, so as to turn the same to allow the lug 1% to pass between the lugs 15 and allow the withdrawal or insertion of the bolt in the aperture, I bend the ends of these bolts at right angles to form handles, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. This lower section of the door is adapted to swing outwardly, and for operating the same I attach to the outer face thereof a strong metal staple 16, carrying a ring 17, which is employed as a handle and also acts as a sup port for holding the section 6 suspended by engaging the ring upon a hook 18, attachedto the outer face of the upper section 1. For holding this upper section 1 in position I secure to the inner faces of the jambs 3 guiderods 19, on each of which is placed a rin '20, adapted to receive the extending arms 21, attached at the two upper corners of the sec tion 1. These guide-rods 19 are each bowed or bent outwardly near their upper ends, as shown at 22, in order to form a support 23 for the arms 21 of the door when the latter is suspended. This construction serves to support the door at its one end when elevated, and it is supported at its other end by means of a hanger or stirrup 24, pivotally attached to the rafter 25 of the car or at any suitable point. This hanger or stirrup I have preferably constructed of a single piece of suitable metal doubled in a substantially U-shaped form, with the closed end drawn together to form a handle 26 and the free ends bent at right angles, as at 27, and acting as guides, one being on each side of the rafter. For engagement with this hanger or stirrup I attach to the inner face of the upper section 1 of the door a bar 28, which extends beyond thelower edge of the section 1 in order that when the door is elevated and the section 6 hangs suspended from its hinges this bar will project and may be engaged in the hanger or stirrup, as shown in Fig. 1.

The operation in brief is as follows: Assuming the car to be in position for unloading, the locking-bolts 12 are withdrawn, and by an outward pull on the ring 17 the lower section 6 of the door is swung outwardly and is held elevated by engaging the ring 17 upon the book 18. The upper section 1 of the door, by reason of its resting upon the blocks 8, remains in its original position until sufficient grain or other material with which the car is loaded has been removed through the opening made by removing the section 6 to permit the swinging inwardly of the upper section 1 and the suspending of the same by the engagement of the bar 28 in the hanger or stirrup 2-1:. In order to suspend the door in this manner, the same is elevated vertically of the doorway, the rings 20 sliding upward on the guide-rods 19 until they pass over the bend 22, and the arms 21, engaging upon these guide-rods at 23, serve to support the door at this end and also allow the free inward swinging of the same for engagement of the bar 28 with the hanger or stirrup 24.

While the construction as herein shown and described embodies the preferable form of my invention, yet it will be observed that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the general spirit of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination with a car, of a pair of guide and supporting rods secured to the inner face of the jambs of the ear-door opening and bent or bowed outwardly at their upper ends to form supports, a door adapted to be arranged in the said opening and consisting of an upper or larger section and a lower or smaller section, a pair of vertical strips secured to the outer face of said upper section, an extension-block secured to the outer face at each side of said lower section and adapted to register with the strips and the sides of the upper section, a hinge secured to each of the said strips and extension blocks for hingedly connecting the said sections together, a rectangular strip of suitable material secured to the inner face near the bottom of said upper section, said strip extending downwardly upon the inner face of the lower section and adapted to seal the joint of the sections when they are in alinem cut with each other, a stop-block secured to the inner face at the bottom of each jamb of the ear-door opening and adapted to extend partly into said opening, said blocks adapted to have their outer ends engaged by the sides of their lower section and their outer face engaged by the extension-blocks of the lower section, a slide-rin g arranged on each of said guide-rods, an outwardlyextending arm formed of a straight piece of suitable material secured to each of the upper corners of said upper section and adapted to removably engage in the said rings, a bar secured at one end to the rectangular strip and extending downwardly upon said lower section, and a hanger suitably connected to the rafters of the car and adapted to engage the said bar for supporting the said sections in an elevated position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SIMEON D. CHELF.

\Vitnesses:

JAMns T. MrronnLL, H. J. YENNE. 

